The Attack
by WandadnaW
Summary: A Missing Scene for the Episode 'The Monster From Outer Space'


**The Attack**  
A Missing Scene for the Episode "The Monster From Outer Space"

He was tired and frustrated: something was wrong with the boat. Well, not wrong with Seaview herself but wrong with his men. There was an underlying tension. Even Chip seemed different somehow but he could not determine what made him feel that way.

Laying on his bunk, he pondered the events of the day. Everything had started all right – "All right for Seaview," he muttered to himself. They had cleared the growth off the capsule, brought the capsule aboard Seaview, decontaminated the capsule, and successfully recovered the instrument package. The Admiral and Chief Sharkey had taken the instrument package to the carrier Huron. The men had cleaned up the missile room and secured the capsule. Up to then, everything had seemed to be all right. In fact, they had all been delighted to find out the new fog cutter installed on the flying sub worked like a charm: the Admiral's landing on the fogbound carrier that would have been problematic before became as easy as landing in the bright of day.

It seemed as if the feel of the boat had changed shortly after Chip had gone to help Kowolski with the placement of some crated stores that were shifting aft of the Missile Room. He had spoken with the Admiral and plotted an intercept course with the carrier. While announcing the new course and speed to be set, his eyes met the eyes of Seaman Riley: Riley's eyes were hostile, and he refused a direct order to return to his station, stating that he would wait to take his orders from the Executive Officer. From there things seemed to get worse: others seemed to exhibit the same strange defiant attitude as well as have that glaring look in their eyes.

He had been glad when his watch ended so that he could seek the solitude of his cabin to read the day's section reports and to work on his own log as well as to review various project proposals that the Admiral had given to him to evaluate. Sitting there at his desk, wrapped in the red and black plaid robe that Chip's mother had given to him at Christmas, papers and reports piled up on his desk, he had started to think that he might have been imagining the feeling of unease until the doctor stopped by his cabin. It had not been the doctor's report that Riley's strange behavior was due to stress that had intensified his apprehension but rather the odd manner in which the man spoke, the eccentric grin on his face, and the look in his eyes.

He had not liked this substitute physician when they had met. The man had excellent credentials and experience on submarines but still, there was something about the physician that he did not like. However, they had needed a doctor on board Seaview since Jamie had been unable to come on this mission. Maybe his dislike of the man was intensifying his disquiet. No, that was not it. Something was wrong: Riley was not himself, the feeling that he had about the doctor was more than his dislike of the man, and Chip was different. Chip – he had been different ever since he returned to the Control room after helping Kowolski. After watching the doctor leave his cabin, essentially telling the man to depart as he thanked him for his report, his sense of foreboding intensified to the point that he removed his handgun from its drawer in his desk and placed it on top of a pile of reports. Before returning to his work, he looked at the gun, wondering what had made him feel such alarm.

After working for several hours, he put the reports and the proposals into various drawers in his desk, knowing that continuing to work would not eliminate his unrest, but leaving the handgun sitting on top of his desk to the right of his desk blotter. As he placed his personal log in his drawer, he laughed to himself as he thought about his log entry of that day. Anyone reading that entry would most likely accuse him of paranoia or stress from overwork. "Jamie would love that," he said to himself as he closed the drawer and shook his head, "Get some rest. It's all in your imagination." He arose from his chair, turning off the desk light and pushing the chair in toward the desk before he went into the head to prepare for bed. His nighttime ablutions completed, he lifted the handgun off the desk and began to return it to it usual drawer. However, his increased uneasiness prompted him to close the drawer without replacing the gun. Gun in hand, he walked to his bunk without turning off the overhead lights. He checked the gun to make sure that he had a full clip of ammunition and placed the loaded weapon under his pillow. Moving aside the sheet and blanket, he removed his robe, tossing it onto the end of the bed, and climbed onto his bunk, pulling the sheet and blanket over him. So, he laid there, feeling restless and staring at the ceiling, as he contemplated the events of the day.

Finally, left hand behind his head and right hand lying across his abdomen, he started to drift to sleep only to be awakened by the sound of his cabin door being forcefully knocked off its hinges and the loud bangs as it collided with his desk then fell to the floor. He bolted upright, turning to look at the doorway, horrified at what he saw. As he leapt from the bed, he grabbed the handgun from beneath his pillow as he came to face the monster entering his cabin.

The creature was huge, larger than the doorway to his cabin but somehow it seemed to be able to change shape and size at will, allowing it to easily enter his cabin. It amazed him that something so large could move and change so rapidly. This monster had three upper appendages that he could see, its skin slick and shiny, a mix of various reds, purples and browns. The flailing arms and various parts of the creature seemed to have what could best be described as leaves. His eyes fixed on the upper half of the creature, he did not determine how the monster moved as it advanced toward him, its arms flailing menacingly. The roar of the beast filled his ears.

He fired the gun, hitting the creature at the center of its mass. He fired again and again, all eight bullets in the clip but each projectile seemed to have no effect on the advancing menace. The monster progressed toward him as he fired into it, backing him into the far left-hand corner of his cabin, closet to the left and creature before him, an empty gun in his hand. He was trapped, the mass of the beast blocking any escape.

So, this was what had caused the change in his men. Now it was after him. He had to escape so that he could warn the Admiral. He had to save his men and his boat from this monster. Then, the beast was upon him, the creature's appendages grabbing him, pulling him into the beast. He fought with his arms and legs, hitting and kicking the beast as it tried to pin him against its massive body. He intensified his struggle as he felt one of the appendages begin to lose it grip upon him. He twisted his body only to be slammed against the wall as the creature pinned him against the wall and solidified its hold on him. The force with which the creature knocked him against the wall stunned him, causing him to see stars and momentarily taking his breath away. As the monstrosity trapped him against the wall, he felt as if he would suffocate: he could not breathe, the weight of the beast preventing him from expanding his chest to draw a breath and its mass smothering him as it covered his face. He continued to struggle, twisting, hitting and kicking, knowing that if he did not get away then he would be lost to the beast like his men. He could not breathe, his lungs burned, his heart pounded in his chest, his body ached, and his blood roared in his ears: he was losing the battle.

Then, he felt a pain in his neck and an intrusion in his mind. "NO!" He screamed in his mind against the entry of the Other. The beast that was assaulting his body had somehow entered his mind. He could feel the malevolence even as he began to lose himself. "No, I will not give in to you. You cannot have me." There was no response from the Other, only a breaking down of his will and intense pain. As he felt himself begin to lose consciousness, the force of the invasion of the Other caused him to scream out again in pain in his mind. In that instant, he gained the power to end it all, "You will not have me! I will die first!" he screamed mentally as the Other's assault intensified. Then, somehow, his heart stopped and he became limp as a rag doll in the grasp of the beast.

A rage seemed to fill the beast and it roared, summoning its minions. The doctor and his corpsman, equipment in hand, were there within moments. The creature carelessly dropped the lifeless body, the doctor catching the man's head moments before it would have struck the floor. The possessed men went to work on the unmoving form, one performing CPR as the other readied the defibrillator. Both men knew the physical state of the man without checking, this information provided by their master, the beast that hovered over them all.

As the corpsman performed CPR, the doctor set the defibrillator to charge to 300 joules, put the conductive jell on the paddles, rubbed the paddles together, and ripped open the man's nightshirt. With the creature now in control of the body, there was no need to attach the heart monitor: it knew the physical condition of all those that it possessed and it gained the knowledge of all of those that it conquered. As if one, the corpsman stopped performing CPR as the doctor positioned the paddles with the commonly used apex/anterior placement, one paddle on the left side of the chest below the left nipple and the other on the front of the chest to the right of the sternum. At the moment the doctor engaged the defibrillator to restart the heart, the monster increased the power of the charge to send it coursing throughout the body and the mind: the body arched and fell back to the floor, the heart began to beat, and respiration began, initially forced by the creature and then continuing automatically. Although the body remained unmoving, the monster had prevented his latest conquest from this unexpected mode of escape.

The monster summoned other subordinates to bring a stretcher to the cabin. The seemingly lifeless man was strapped to the stretcher and carried to the sickbay followed by the doctor and his corpsman. Even as the men left the cabin, the creature shrank and disappeared only to reappear in the sickbay as the men arrived with their burden. They placed the man on the gurney at the center of the examination area and tightly strapped him down. The creature moved toward the man strapped to the gurney, stopping to the right of the gurney and expanding itself so that it loomed above the man's head.

Unbeknownst to these men, a battle raged in the unresponsive body, a battle between the rightful owner and the author of the violent assault. Even as the beast made his final conquest on the boat, the doctor monitored the body, the life signs slowly stabilizing as the battle within ended. The man's eyes slowly opened and he stared at the beast that now controlled both his body and his mind. As the doctor administered a sedative that would force rest upon the embattle body, a look of sadness came upon the face of the conquered man. The eyes closed as the sedative took affect. Neither the creature nor the doctor saw the single tear that formed at the corner of the left eye and slowly rolled along the side of his face toward his left ear.

Hours later, the doctor had completed his final check on the newly subjugated man. He left the sickbay and walked toward the Control Room. Entering, the doctor walked across the Control Room and stopped before the Executive Officer.

"How is Captain Crane, Doctor?" Morton slowly asked without any concern in his voice.**

"He struggled so violently, he almost died. But he is one of us now." the doctor replied, the ever-present smirk upon his face.**

"Are you sure?" Morton asked.**

"See for yourself."**

At that, both men turned toward the entrance to the Control Room through which the doctor had recently come, the strange smirk on the face of the doctor and a hooded look on the face of the Executive Officer. They watched as the man walked dejectedly through the outer entrance, eyes downcast, his body language that of one controlled rather than of one in command of himself. Holding onto one side of the main doorway, the man stepped over the high lower ledge, lifting one foot and then the other over the sill. Then, inside the Control Room, he paused momentarily as he slowly released his hold on the plane of the entryway, his hand falling to his side. Hesitantly, he raised his eyes and gazed around the room, a look of sadness on his face. His eyes met the eyes of Seaview's Executive Officer. Morton and the doctor looked at each other and nodded. They could now feel the creature's power over the man: Captain Crane was one of them.

****Note**: The quotes for this exchange between the Doctor and Mr. Morton are taken directly from the end of the second season episode "The Monster from Outer Space"


End file.
